Hearing what Lu Xinyi said had ignited the passion to win in Ye Xieren and Yan Chen. Neither of the two wanted to lose today. Lu Xinyi had already surpassed them on the rankings, and losing today meant another slap to their faces.
Amongst them, Ye Xieren was eager to prove himself. His last battle against Lu Xinyi had reminded him of what he had wanted when he first joined the academy. Meeting Lu Xinyi and being beaten by her had knocked him up from his high horse and reminded him to never look down on any of his peers.
He remembered his conversation with his Uncle Qin after his defeat to Lu Xinyi.
“Do you know what Lu Xinyi is lacking?” Chef Qin asked him as they drove back to his restaurant in the capital.
“Experience,” Ye Xieren answered confidently. He’d heard that Lu Xinyi used to be a pastry chef for a closed-down patisserie shop, and she hadn’t any prior experience in a restaurant kitchen like him.
“And yet she was able to defeat you. Not only once but several times.”
Ye Xieren winced at that but didn’t deny what the older man said. He lowered his head in shame. Cooking prodigy? Who? He couldn’t even surpass Lu Xinyi at this rate. He’d already lost count how many times Lu Xinyi beat his ass.
“If Lu Xinyi had the same resources and opportunity as you had, she’ll be a professional chef by now. Not only that. Her taste discernment ability is far superior to what you and I have. Her ability to discern the taste also depicts her ability to deconstruct the layers of flavors on one’s dish.” Chef Qin continued.
So far, aside from Lu Xinyi, the only one he knew who had this outstanding sense of taste was Lu Sibai. It was just that he didn’t expect that Lu Sibai’s daughter would also inherit this ability from him.
When Ye Xieren entered the food warehouse, everything he needed was already listed down mentally. He only spent three minutes inside before going back to his kitchen counter to prepare the broth for his pho.
As soon as the fourteen junior students came back to their counters, a frosted wall slowly emerged from floor trapping them in a close cubicle enough for them to work on their stations. Each cubicle had an HD camera installed inside that was able to capture the process of their cooking.
“Since this is a competition for the Interschool Culinary Competition, the academy decided to limit the ‘learning’ you can get from your fellow classmates. Everything about the two dishes should be prepared by you, which relies on the cooking skills you learned from the past six months within the academy.”
The students weren’t bothered by this sudden change; instead, they felt more freedom in utilizing their skills and focus on their dishes with this rare privacy the academy had given them.
‘What the heck? Since when did the academy install those walls? I couldn’t remember seeing it the last time we were here,” someone commented at the audience area.
“Maybe they only used it today? There will be more cooking battles to come this school year. Installing those walls will not only give the students privacy but also make sure none of them are cheating,” his companion replied.
Not wasting another minute, Ye Xieren started to get busy. Instead of making the traditional beef pho that was time-consuming, he decided to make the Chicken Pho. First, he charred the fresh ginger and onions in medium heat in a skillet pan for about ten minutes until it softened slightly and became sweetly fragrant. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
For the first thirty minutes of this cooking battle, the cooking arena and the audience area was already filled by the scent of aromatics coming from the grilling and broiling.
“Geez, the aroma of their broths are starting to invade my nose. This is already enough for my stomach to react to hunger,” a student from another course commented. He could feel his stomach reacting to the delicious aroma coming from the cooking arena.
“Are you really hungry, or you’re trying to reason out to eat?” The boy beside him chuckled.
“S-shut up!” The student blushed from embarrassment. “You don’t know how to contain your hunger when a delicious dish is served in front of you, but you can’t eat it!” he defended.
Once he was satisfied, Ye Xieren removed the charred ginger and onions from heat and let them cool for a few minutes while he washed the free-range chicken he’ll use for his broth. The chicken he was using had everything intact except the head and its feathers. He cleaned the cavity before pulling up both of his sleeves for the next step.
Using a heavy cleaver, he whacked the bones of the chicken to break apart. Since the wings tend to fall off during cooking, he detached both wings from the chicken and whacked it a few times before setting aside on a separate bowl.
To achieve a clear and flavorful broth, Ye Xieren also decided to parboil the chicken. After rinsing off the impurities, he quickly scrubbed the pot, placed back the wingless chicken with its breast side up before pouring in water, and made sure that the chicken was completely submerged.
It wasn’t because he didn’t want to gamble when he chose to use chicken instead of beef for his pho. It was just that he couldn’t afford to lose and play safe, only to lose again.
Ye Xieren forced himself to calm down and not overthink. If he had a clearer mind during his cooking battle with Lu Xinyi, he might have won that round and earned the tenth seat. The moment he heard Lu Xinyi’s challenge earlier, his heart suddenly tightened.
‘Calm down, Xieren. Calm down. You’ll win this time. You’ll definitely win this time,’ he chanted to himself.
He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. This wasn’t the time for him to panic. He couldn’t make the same mistake like the last time.
The partially-covered broth now started to boil over high heat. Ye Xieren uncovered the pot and lowered the heat to gently simmer. Using a skimmer, he removed the scum and impurities on the broth before adding his charred aromatics as well as the spices needed and left it to simmer uncovered.
On the other cubicles, the clattering of the pots and cursing of the students could be heard. It was either they were too nervous that they made a mistake or they missed an ingredient for their dishes.
While he waited for the chicken to cook, he moved to prepare the second dish which was the Banh flan. Ye Xieren wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but making desserts and sweets were his Achilles’ heel in cooking. He wasn’t as good as Lu Xinyi or Tang Lilou in this aspect, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know the basics.
Lu Xinyi wanted to see another version of Banh flan today but didn’t specify any preferences. Ye Xieren had already a plan on his mind, but his chances of winning for this dish weren’t as high as his Chicken Pho. However, there was no other chance for him to change his plans but to continue on what he planned ahead.
